Wednesday, September 28, 2005

JOHNNY B's 25 FAVORITE ALBUM COVERS

Looks like a busy day today, so I've only got one. I'm also finding this a bit more difficult than I thought, since I figured I'd just gank them via Google Image Search and post 'em up...but I'm finding that I want to show back covers as well as front covers, and frankly, most places on that World Wide Interweb only have the fronts, which means I'll need to scan my own personal copies when possible and piece them together in Photoshop (small scanner bed, y'know) which takes some time and also means I'll have to do them at home, and this weekend's looking like a busy one which will call for me to be away from my computer SO what I'm trying to say in my rambling way is that I might not be posting these as frequently as I had hoped. Please bear with. Another thing- as I make out my list in preparation, I notice that most of the ones I'm writing are from that decade which made such an impression on l'il ol' me, the 1970's...and while that's not surprising I will say that I'm not completely given to living in the past, if you will, and I hope to be able to insert a few from the 80s, 90s and Aughts. I think the smaller-canvas format of the CD, though, not to mention the Download Age we live in now has caused a de-emphasization of album cover artwork, and that makes me very sad but it's a fact of life. Anyway, on to the next one on the list, and remember, these aren't in any particular order.

Now here's one of which I LOVE the front cover, but am mostly unimpressed with the mostly-text back cover, so I'll give this one to you today. Curved Air was another of those then-ubitiquous mostly Proggish British groups that popped up in the wake of the Crimson King in the early 70s. I bought this one out of curiosity, and because the violin-tinged textures and female vocals (Sonja Kristina, once of Strawbs) of the songs sounded intriguing...but sad to say this one still hasn't made much of an impression on me despite several good hard listens. Could be why the Air didn't make much of an impression on anyone else either. But I still love the cover's combination of Lewis Carroll and the bold, ornate sweep of the album title against the off-white background.